ELON, N.C.—It was the 5:08 mark of the third quarter when No. 18 Villanova (4-2, 3-1 CAA Football) found the momentum it had been looking for all day, and it was the 5:10 mark of the fourth quarter when a dose of déjà vu got that momentum back. Two touchdowns by graduate wide receiver Luke Colella (Wexford, Pa.) in a span of just over three minutes in the third quarter provided the first spark and junior Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) sent the Wildcats on to a 29-21 win over Elon (4-3, 2-1 CAA Football) with his second kick return touchdown in the last three games in the decisive final period.
 
Colella has been Villanova's top receiving threat all season, but it took until his seventh catch of the day and 37^th of the season for him to score his first touchdown in a Wildcats uniform. Villanova had trailed from the early moments of the game and didn't find the end zone for the first time until Colella's 20-yard catch with 5:08 to play in the third quarter trimmed the deficit to 14-10. It was the 1:44 mark of the period when graduate quarterback Pat McQuaide (Solon, Ohio) and Colella connected again for 42 yards as the Wildcats took a 17-14 lead.
 
In between the two touchdowns, Villanova got a big defensive stop thanks in part to a sack for a loss of 10 yards by fifth year defensive tackle Obinna Nwobodo (Wilmington, Del.) and junior defensive end Capri Martin (Harlem, N.Y.) which backed the Phoenix up to their own 26-yard line on 3^rd-and-22. Elon was forced to punt one play later and true freshman Braden Reed (Pottstown, Pa.) picked up 26 yards on the return to give the Wildcats possession at midfield. It took just four plays and 1:18 for Villanova to score again on Colella's second touchdown reception.
 
The highest drama of the day was still to come. In the fourth quarter, sophomore running back David Avit (Frederick, Md.) converted a 4^th-and-1 play with a 21-yard run down to the three-yard line, but the Wildcats were unable to get into the end zone on three goal-to-go plays inside the five-yard line. Graduate kicker Jack Barnum (Southington, Conn.) extended the VU lead to 20-14 with 9:44 to play.
 
The field goal left the door open for a Phoenix rally and a nine-play drive covering 80 yards culminated with a TJ Thomas Jr. two-yard touchdown run with 5:25 to go which gave Elon back the lead at 21-20. Enter Mace, who had recorded a 100-yard kickoff return for a score just two weeks ago at home against William & Mary. This time he went 97 yards all but untouched to restore the Wildcats advantage at 26-21.
 
Mace is the first FCS player this season with two kickoff return touchdowns and the first Villanova player to have two in a season since Angelo Babbaro in 2010. With two returns totaling 111 yards on Saturday, his season return stats are up to 15 returns for exactly 500 yards and an average of 33.3 yards per return. No VU player has averaged better than 30 yards per return in a full season since Bob Dunn averaged 32.5 yards on 11 returns in 1963.
 
The final points of the game came with 1:03 to play when Barnum made his third field goal of the day from 32 yards out to make the score 29-21. An Elon offense which came into the game averaging better than 30 points per contest, gave its best shot in the closing seconds. Phoenix quarterback Landen Clark drove Elon to the Villanova 16-yard line with six seconds to play, but on the final play of the game he was intercepted in the end zone by redshirt freshman safety Jamie Tyson (Somers Point, N.J.) whose first career pick sealed the outcome.  
 
McQuaide finished the day 23-of-31 through the air for 255 yards and two touchdowns. It is the second straight week that he has thrown for at least 250 yards. Colella had 10 catches for 125 yards and the two scores as he topped the century mark for the fourth time this season, the second straight game and the third time in the last four weeks. He also became the Wildcats first receiver since Matt Szczur against Stephen F. Austin in the 2010 playoffs to have double digits in receptions in a single game.
 
Junior linebacker Turner Inge (Williamstown, N.J.) had a career-high nine tackles and senior safety Christian Sapp (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) added a career high eight stops to lead Villanova defensively. After the Wildcats allowed 163 yards on Elon's first three drives and fell behind 14-3 by the 5:22 mark of the second quarter, the defense gave up just seven points and 181 yards on seven Phoenix possessions the rest of the way.
 
Saturday's game was the last of a series in which Villanova played four of five games on the road. The Wildcats lost the first two games in the stretch at FBS foe Penn State and CAA opponent Monmouth before rebounding with three momentous wins in a row over the last three weeks. The remaining regular season schedule is far kinder to Villanova, which will play four of its last five games in the friendly confines of Villanova Stadium where the Wildcats own the second-longest active home winning streak in the FCS. Next up for Villanova is a home date with Hampton next Saturday (October 18) at 1 p.m.